(The Hosting News) – German secure e-mail provider mailbox.org has introduced simplified PGP encryption to make it easier than ever before for users to send encrypted emails and files. mailbox.org users can now protect themselves against invasions of privacy with an easy, web-based, one-click PGP encryption process.
“Previous attempts to use PGP as a mainstream encryption tool have failed because of users’ confusion over managing the keys, PGP format types, and lack of trusted central key repositories,” said Peer Heinlein, CEO of mailbox.org. “There have also been problems with lack of support for webmail or Cloud systems. Plugin solutions for browsers like Mailvelope could only partially decrypt PGP. And crypto experts have been questioning for years if it is even possible to achieve secure cryptography in JavaScript. But now OX Guard has helped us to overcome all these issues. It is a simple-to-use, server-side encryption solution for everyone, everyday.”
The new “Guard” module is fully compatible with all common PGP solutions. Due to the server-side PGP implementation of OX Guard, any user can generate encryption keys themselves without technical background knowledge. Technically-advanced users can upload their own keys into OX Guard and use the web-based solution in parallel to a local PGP installation. This ensures they have secure access to their encrypted communications when they are travelling, even on non-trustworthy computers.
Due to server-side encryption, users´ critical Private Keys cannot be lost or abused. Additionally, numerous safeguards effectively prevent the server operator or administrator accessing the PGP keys of its users. These keys are encrypted with a password that is known only to the user, and are not readable in plain text by an attacker or the server admin, even during user login. The source code of the solution can be publically reviewed, ensuring complete transparency and security.
mailbox.org users can send secure email messages and files with parties that do not use PGP. In these instances, mailbox.org will provide temporary encrypted mailboxes on the mailbox.org server. Business users such as lawyers or accountants, who have to communicate sensitive information, will particularly benefit from this simple, yet privacy compliant, solution for secure communication with their clients.
“mailbox.org has always been a pioneer in providing users with secure and encrypted email and has played a major role helping us develop OX Guard,” adds Rafael Laguna, CEO of Open-Xchange. “We’re delighted that mailbox.org is now also the first OX partner to make the new PGP-enabled version of OX Guard available to customers. While PGP has been around for a long time, it has never achieved mass adoption. Finally, we meet the usability expectation of today’s users and deliver on the promise of high security without technical barriers.”
Pricing and availability
The new encryption service is available immediately and is included in all mailbox.org packages from 1 Euro per month without extra cost. To sign up for a 30-day free trial, please go to https://mailbox.org/en/signup
About mailbox.org
Founded in early 2014, mailbox.org was the first established provider to offer PGP encrypted e-mail accounts to customers world-wide. Thanks to the many extra features available in addition to secure e-mail, such as shared calendars and online text processing software in combination with cloud storage, mailbox.org presents a real alternative to other competing services like GoogleDocs or Dropbox. Technologically, the German provider implements the latest security standards: Connections are made via the DANE protocol and all DNS data is handled by the DNSSEC mechanism which is considered particularly secure. mailbox.org is funded directly by their users who pay a regular fee for the service, starting at 1 Euro per month. mailbox.org respects the privacy of their customers and will never use any account data or personal information for advertising purposes, or sell data to third parties.
mailbox.org is a service of the Heinlein Support GmbH which is based in Berlin, Germany. The company director, Peer Heinlein, is a seasoned IT security adviser with 25 years of experience in the provision of email services and author of various reference books. He founded the political provider JPBerlin.de in 1992 which supplies a number of well-known NGOs, charities, and people working in an honorary capacity with the infrastructure they need for their work; offering them secure e-mail, mailing lists, web hosting, and domain registration services. Prominent customers of JPBerlin.de include Attac, Doctors Without Borders, the German working group on data retention, Wikimedia, and X1000malquer.
mailbox.org launches one-click email and content encryption based on PGP